Yours to Hold
by Thine Dreamer Doth Take Flight
Summary: Adam is regaining lost memories of his time before Belle, and with them, he realizes he has to tell her about someone from his past. Features an OC, but she doesn't interfere with this couple in the slightest. Give it a chance, like or don't.
1. Yours to Hold - Part 1

_A/N: I've always loved Disney's __**Beauty and the Beast**__, but never wanted to mess with the canon or add anyone to the cast because I feared people going ballistic over it and the implications of it destroying Beast's and Belle's relationship. However, there are ten years between his curse and his meeting with Belle, so I figured that as long as my character had no chance of destroying that time, she would be fine. This is my attempt at pulling that off. This is my first time writing for __**Beauty and the Beast**__, so please, don't be harsh on me. Please read on, and thank you for giving this a chance._

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**Yours to Hold – Part One**

Pacing in front of the fire place, the auburn-haired man fidgeted nervously as he waited for his brunette companion to join him in the parlor. He couldn't recall being this nervous since the curse had been lifted, except perhaps when he proposed to the woman that had helped him become a man again, but he figured he had reason to be. It was a cold winter night much like the one he had been cursed on as well as several other important nights he'd seen, which only served to make his memories as a beast all that more vivid in his mind.

At first his memory had been slow to come back. Sure, he had never lost his memory from just before his fiancée's arrival in his castle, but the rest was, for the most part, a fog that refused to reveal its secrets. For that reason, he had never thought or missed his parents, and as the beast he nearly forgot what it meant to be human. All that remained in him then had been the curse and how hopeless it was to hope to fight it. Belle had changed that. No, she had done more than that. She had shattered the curse, but she had also made him a man inside and out. Because of that, the fog in his mind began to thin, and with it, memories returned to be remembered. They were both from his time as a human before the curse and as a beast after its activation. Often they came at night when he was least guarded against them. Others streamed in when light bathed the castle, and those ones were usually harsher than the ones he had in his dreams. Not to say he didn't wake up screaming a couple of times from what he remembered and in turn wake a worried Belle, but the ones in the harsh light of day usually left him more breathless and regretful than those he received in the shadow of night.

With the return of such startling memories came the recollection of someone he had to tell Belle about before they married, for his sake as well as hers.

The servants were finishing their tasks for the night. He could hear them bidding each other goodnight as well as the clatter of dishes in the kitchen with Cogsworth's voice above all other noises, keeping the order as usual. The plump man had been doing that as long as the prince could remember, a constant that never seemed like it would go away. Hearing the peaceful sounds of the castle that had been there all his life helped to calm the prince, lessening his nervousness about what he would tell Belle a little, but even it wasn't enough to stop the uneven thumping of his heart.

"Good evening, Cogsworth," the familiar voice of Lumiere greeted in the hall near the parlor, though his usually jovial voice lacked its usual luster.

"Same to you, Lumiere. Are you and Fifi turning in for the night?" Cogsworth asked.

"I will be, but Lumiere…" The flirtatious brunette maid didn't sound quite like herself, either.

"…I'll be a bit late to rest. I just need to tend to the fireplace in the parlor and then I have… somewhere I need to go," Lumiere told the head of the castle.

"…Is it that time again?" Cogsworth mused, losing his commanding voice in favor of a more melancholic one. "Six years today…"

"Yes…Good night to the both of you," Lumiere said. "Don't wait up for me, Fifi."

The prince, upon hearing their conversation, knew what they were talking about and instantly felt worse than before. He stepped back and sat in his chair, almost wishing he could melt into it so he wouldn't have to face the blonde servant on this of all nights. He kept his eyes on the floor as the former candelabra walked into the room, choosing to stare at the shadows made by the flames instead of the other man. Lumiere simply approached the fire and tended to it, perhaps unaware that his master was even in the room.

"…Hello, Master Adam," he said quietly, proving that he did indeed know his master was there as he slid in a couple more logs to ensure the fire would last long enough for the prince and his bride-to-be.

"Lumiere," Adam barely managed to whisper.

"…Are you all right, Master?" Lumiere asked as he didn't fail to notice the quiet or the emotion.

"I'm fine. I just…remember."

"Ah. Your memories of life before Belle are returning. Suppose that explains the screams we've been hearing at night. Well, the ones that aren't from passion, that is. My apologies for that, monsieur. I'd like to stick around and discuss these with you, but…I have to visit someone," Lumiere murmured, straightening and turning towards the entryway. "Don't you and Belle stay up too late now. And may your memories not cause you too much of a rough night."

"…I remember Lue."

Lumiere froze just before the entrance, clearly recognizing the name the former beast spoke. He glanced over his shoulder to meet the prince's blue gaze with his own amber one. Adam saw pain in them as well as a sheen that could only be caused by unshed tears. Though it should be there, however, the servant did not have any hatred or anger. How could he not have either of those things for his master?

"…Before the curse…or after?" Lumiere asked after a moment.

"Both," Adam admitted. "…What happened back then…It's something I'll never forgive myself for—"

"It was an accident," Lumiere interjected before Adam could say anymore. "You were depressed by the curse and giving into your animal instincts. You had no reason to be happy or believe the curse was going to be lifted. I don't hold it against you because I saw what…you were like after it happened. I will never place blame on you for it, Master. I haven't for these past six years, and I won't start now just because you remember it once more."

"But she's gone because I was too weak to fight. You should blame me. You should hate me. Your daughter—"

"Would not want me to hold grudges. She only ever wanted you to be happy, and now that you are, it would be foolish of me to try and take that away with my anger. Anger never really suited me, anyway."

"Lumiere, you're being too easy on me."

"No, Damien. I'm doing what my daughter would have wanted. I'm forgiving and moving on. I suggest you do the same, or else the happiness you have worked so hard for will be lost." The dark blonde turned away again before asking, "…Are you going to tell Belle?"

Adam was slightly shaken by the name his servant called him, but not enough to not reply to him. "…Tonight, actually."

"I hope she is as understanding as Lue and I are. Good night, Master."

"Same to you, Lumiere."

The once-candelabra stepped out of the parlor, leaving Adam alone once more. He slumped further down in his chair, confused and nervous and regretful. Lumiere claimed to not hate him, to have never hated him, for what happened six years ago, but just thinking about it made the prince hate himself. How would Belle feel once she learned of what a monster he had been, or what he could have done so easily to her if he hadn't somehow kept himself in check? Would she take her father and leave, never to return? No, he doubted she, who had come back against all odds, would do that to him when she had worked so hard to reform him into what he was now. However, there was still the possibility of her behavior towards him changing. Trust could lessen, doubt could appear, and their relationship may take a blow from this. Still, he knew he could not keep this a secret from her. It would only continue to eat him up inside if he did.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Adam," the cheerful voice of his fiancée said as she appeared by his side, pecking him on the cheek before sitting in her own chair. "I had to work around the guys while they cleaned up and I didn't want to get in their way. And then Chip was fighting Mrs. Potts to go to bed and I had to help her…But you don't want to hear about that. What did you want to talk about, Adam?"

He hesitated, holding his breath as he continued to look at the dancing flames within the fireplace. Belle had changed his whole world by simply opening her heart to him despite his outward appearance, believing that beneath his ugly exterior he had a good heart. The blue-eyed man knew that was true, but he also knew his good heart had been tainted by the curse of that enchantress and thus had failed him on occasion, letting the beast he was becoming take control before he could take it back. Lue had seen the true beast whereas Belle had only seen a glimpse of it, which was why she was still here and Lue was not. He didn't want to scare the brunette woman into imagining what he could have done had she misspoken more than she had before the beginning of his transformation from mostly beast to mostly man. He didn't want to ruin their relationship.

He didn't want to lose her, but he knew in his heart that he couldn't marry her without her knowing the truth.

"Adam?" Belle rested her hand on his arm, concern clear in her voice. She had seen him depressed before and had been by his side when his memories drove him screaming back into consciousness, so she had every right to be so.

"…Belle, there's something I need to tell you about my past. I have…I have been remembering things that were long forgotten by the time of your arrival here, things that…aren't necessary pleasant," Adam began, taking her hand in both of his while trying and failing to keep eye contact.

"Adam," Belle said, cupping his chin with her free hand and turning his face towards her. "You can tell me anything. I promise I won't leave you, or run or hide or whatever you think I'd do. I'm yours forever, just as you are mine."

The prince managed a small smile that was gone as quickly as it came. "I will tell you everything someday…Just not tonight. Tonight, I need to tell you about someone important in my life before you…someone who isn't with us anymore, but if I hadn't been so blind by my curse… She might still be and might have been the one to break it instead of you…if you don't mind my saying so, Belle."

"Of course I don't mind. You're just being honest." Belle paused. "…Who was she?"

"Her name…was Lue."


	2. Yours to Hold - Part 2

**Yours to Hold – Part Two**

_She had come to the castle when both she and the prince were about eight years of age. An orphan, she had no one with her when she stumbled onto the stairs at the door, barely alive but still fighting to remain so. The only telltale sign of her past was a mysterious x-shaped scar on her left cheek that she never explained. The servants took her in and nursed her back to health, making her a part of their family. Her head was a mess of blonde curls that she kept pulled back in a bun, her eyes were the same amber color as Lumiere's, and her fiery spirit brought light to the castle that had been lacking since the death of Adam's parents and his continued spoiled behavior after the fact. Seeing the redhead as a brat but hoping to change that, Lue made herself his playmate and did everything she could to best him at everything to try to teach him some humility. Cogsworth and Mrs. Potts often scorned her for this, but Lumiere admired her approach and rebellious spirit that was much like his own. They formed a bond much like a father to a daughter, something that wouldn't change despite any obstacle that was thrown in their way._

_Though the prince greatly disliked how she would never let him have his way unless the adults forced her to do so, he also enjoyed the challenge she presented and accepted her as his peer. It didn't keep him from insulting her at every corner, but Lue just responded in kind before continuing to defeat him in every game they played. Slowly their childish way of handling each other forged a friendship, albeit one that was abusive, but one nonetheless._

"_Come on, slowpoke!" Lue shouted, running ahead of Adam in the snow as he chased her. "You're never gonna not be it if you keep being that slow!"_

"_Don't talk down to me, Lue!" Adam snapped. "I am the prince, you hear me! You're lucky I even allowed myself to be it, you little-!"_

"_What's that? I can't hear you because you're too far behind, Prince of the Slowpokes!" Lue teased before bursting into boastful giggles._

_She then tripped on the hem of her mustard yellow dress and promptly fell on her face into the cold snow, putting an end to her laughter in an instant. She placed her bare arms under her to push herself up, shaking the flakes from her hair and spitting others from her mouth, before she was pounced on by the one she had been mocking only moments ago. His weight made her fall again, but this time she made sure to turn her face upwards so she wouldn't freeze it again. She glared back at the smug little boy on her back, who responded by sticking his tongue out at her rather immaturely._

_Lue struggled under his weight, but failed to get from under him. Though she was a servant of his castle and thus did more manual labor in a day than he had done in a lifetime, she also ate much less than he and thus he weighed more than she could move. The coldness of the snow against her exposed skin caused her to start to shiver, reminding her of when she had almost perished, and then gave her more of a reason to fight back for the right to stand._

"_Lemme up, Adam!" she exclaimed._

"_You don't deserve to be up until you acknowledge me for what I am," Adam stated proudly, not budging in the slightest. Rather, he made himself more comfortable on her back._

"_You're a piggish prince who thinks he's better than everyone else! I've already told you that a million times!" Lue growled. "Lemme up or I'll hurt you!"_

"_As if you could, peasant." Adam sneered. He was all warm in his winter wear, clothes only worthy of being worn by royalty and not for the servitude. He could remain here as long as he wanted whereas Lue could only hold out for so long._

_The curly-haired blonde grabbed the prince's arm and pulled it down, purposely digging her nails into his skin, until she could sink her teeth into his hand. He screamed, jumping up immediately, and as he did so she released him. She spat the taste out of her mouth, glad that she hadn't had to bite hard to get him off, before slowly getting back on her feet._

"_You bit me!" Adam yelled, holding his hand against his chest as if she had broken it._

"_You wouldn't let me up! What else was I supposed to do?!" Lue demanded._

"_You were supposed to grovel like the peasant you are and beg for mercy from your prince!"_

"_You're no prince, Damien! You're nothing more than a donkey with a jester hat!"_

_The prince crossed his arms. "You're just jealous that I'm better than you in every important way there is!"_

"_Why would I be jealous of you?! I may not be rich or have thousands of people at my disposal, but at least I have friends that I didn't force to be so! I have so many things you don't, but you're too blind by your own greed and spoiled personality! If I didn't choose to be your friend, you'd be alone, and then what good would all your money and 'high-standing' do you then?!"_

"_I'd be able to buy friends that would be more loyal to me than you! I don't even need you!"_

_Adam drew back his fist and punched her in the face right where she had her scar. He was weak, so it didn't really hurt, but it did annoy her. She kicked him in the knee, bringing him down to size, before delivering an uppercut to his chin to knock him on his backside. He took it in stride instead of crying out for help and quickly jumped up to tackle her. Their quarrel turned into an all-out brawl without either party pulling punches. Adam's did little damage, as expected from a pampered prince, while the servant girl's were sure to leave marks later on. They stopped fighting only when the prince was crying and could no longer return her blows. She then blew the hair out of her face and straightened to stand, warmed up from the heat of the battle as well as her anger. Adam just stayed in the snow, crying and crying._

_He waited for her to gloat, to poke fun at him for being beaten by a girl after such big talk. Instead, she knelt down beside him, made him sit up, and wrapped her arms around him. Adam returned the gesture, burying his face in the short sleeve of her dress, not wanting to let her go even though he treated her so terribly so often. She stroked his hair as he let his tears fall, comforting him though she was responsible for his current misery._

"_You'll never be happy if you keep allowing yourself to be spoiled, Damien," she told him when his sobbing started to quiet and he pulled away from her arms. "If you keep stepping on everyone who around you like we're nothing but rubbish, then you'll be sad and lonely and then no amount of money will ever make that go away. Do you understand, prince?"_

_Adam sniffed and looked away from her, vigorously rubbing his eyes. "What do you know?"_

_Lue smiled. "I know more than you think. Now come on, crybaby. You're still it."_

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"Sounds like quite the relationship," Belle mused with an awkward smile, unsure what to think of the child form of her fiancé and his friend Lue. "Why did she call you Damien? Isn't your name Adam?"

Adam shook his head. "I didn't remember my name when I became human, so I…I just chose one. Adam means man, which is what I am now, so…"

"You don't have to explain it to me. I understand," Belle told him. "Which one do you want me to call you? Your real name, or the name you gave yourself in your new life?"

"…You can continue to call me Adam. Damien…It's a name that should stay with Lue."

"All right then, Adam. Continue with your story."

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"_Mrs. Potts! Lue attacked me again!" Damien whined, grabbing the skirt of the lead maid in the kitchen while the amber-eyed girl peered around the corner at the prince._

"_He started it," she claimed as the maid glowered at her, pouting when Mrs. Potts started coddling Damien. "He called me a worthless peasant and punched me in my scar."_

"_I only called you what you are!" Damien snapped._

"_And yet you get mad at me when I call you a fat good-for-nothing pauper," Lue countered._

"_Now children, is that any way to treat each other? You're supposed to be friends, but you bicker and fight like two ruffians for the olden days," Mrs. Potts scolded, though her scolding seemed more directed at Lue than Damien. "Lue, you really ought to be more respectful to the master. He is the prince, after all, and you should treat him as such."_

"_Some prince he is. With an attitude like that, the people are going to hate him if he ever gets to be king," Lue pointed out. "Your babying him won't make things any better, Mrs. Potts. He needs to learn to respect everyone, not just himself."_

"_No I don't. The only people that deserve my respect are those of higher rank than me, which is no one near here," Damien stated before sticking his tongue out at her._

"_Lue, dear, he's just a boy. He has no one but us and he's royalty. We are his servants. It's our duty to do what he wants without question, and if you're one of us I suggest you do the same," Mrs. Potts told the girl._

"_Is that what his parents wanted? For their son to grow up to be a hated king because he was spoiled rotten by his coddling slaves?" Lue rebuked, not easily put in her place._

"_Don't talk about my parents like that, you dirty street girl!" Damien snapped, promptly slapping her across the face. "My parents were ten times better than any you could have imagined! They gave me whatever I wanted and loved me! Yours didn't even care to keep you and that's how you came to be here! Be grateful I allowed the servants to take you in, or else you'd be long gone from this world!"_

"_Prince, that was too harsh!" Mrs. Potts lightly chided._

_Before the madam could say any more, Lue returned the prince's slap with one of her own, only much harder. "Don't you assume anything about my parents when you have never met them! Don't you assume you know my story just because of how I looked when I crawled here! You know nothing of me that I didn't want you to know! You spoiled—!"_

_Mrs. Potts grabbed Lue by her wrist. "You're not supposed to strike royalty, Lue. I could have you tossed from the castle for that."_

"_What, am I supposed to let him talk about my family like that when he knows nothing?!" Lue cried, and for the first time, Damien actually saw tears welling up in her eyes. He had expected to enjoy seeing her cry, but the opposite happened. He actually lost his smile and could only stare as he fought to keep the tears from spilling._

"_You're supposed to be a good girl and keep your mouth shut."_

_Lue's bottom lip quivered, but she didn't let herself break down in front of the head maid and the prince. She forced Mrs. Potts to release her by kicking the older lady in the shins before running off, screaming for her father. The maid muttered under her breath about Lue's unladylike behavior, but Damien ignored her, curious by Lue rather than irritated now. She had been calling for her father, but Damien, caught up in himself, didn't think she had one in the castle as he had missed the bond formed between his 'friend' and Lumiere._

_He glimpsed around the corner into the parlor where Lue ran crying towards the dark blonde servant of the lights. She wrapped her arms around his back as he tended to the fireplace, burying her face in his shirt. Lumiere turned to take her properly in his arms, stroking her hair much like she did to Damien whenever she made him upset. Damien watched the amber-eyed man lift the girl as he stood once more and move to sit in the chair that the prince didn't claim as his, placing the girl in his lap. Her grip on Lumiere never lessened._

"_What's the matter, chérie?" he asked._

"…_Damien…He said mean things…about my parents," Lue whimpered into his shirt. "I…I tried to stand up for me and them…but Mrs. Potts told me…I should be a good girl…and keep my mouth shut…"_

"_Oh, don't you listen to them, Lue. You just keep being you. There's nothing wrong with—"_

"_Yes there is!" Lue interjected, pulling her face away to look up at him. "Everyone's always saying there's something wrong with me! I…I don't follow the rules. I don't grovel before the prince, I speak my mind…I don't do anything right!"_

"_And you think that's a bad thing? On the contrary, chérie, it's a good thing! You see me sticking with tradition? I may not always look it, but I'm a bit rebellious myself. Just ask that overgrown pocket watch Cogsworth." Lumiere placed a finger under Lue's chin and made her look him in the eyes. "Lue, there's nothing wrong with you. The world isn't ready for a girl like you who doesn't fit the mold of a baby-maker and a kitchen-keeper, but that doesn't mean you should change. The fact that you're different than everyone else in this castle might actually be better for the master than if you were just like the rest of us. Between you and me, he kind of does need someone to take him down a notch. And who better than you, the girl who's her own unique light in the castle of gloom? Don't hate what you are. Embrace it."_

_Lue gave him a small smile that flickered and faded. "…But…What about how he talks about me and my parents…? What should I do about that?"_

"_I'm not sure about that one, chérie. I don't even know too much about you, let alone your parents," Lumiere admitted._

"…_Well, let's just say I didn't come from poverty. I was…forced into it by means that I'd rather not say…" Lue fell silent as her bottom lip quivered again and tears wet her eyes anew. "Mommy and Daddy aren't…They aren't alive anymore…"_

"_Shh…It's okay, chérie." Lumiere let her bury her face in his shirt again and resumed stroking her hair. "You don't have to tell me what happened. I just want you to know that I'll always be here for you, no matter what."_

"…_I know, Father…"_

"_Don't let anything extinguish your light, Lue. It's what makes you…you."_

_Damien turned away from the sight, jealous of their closeness. She had lost her parents, just as he had lost his, but he had no one to look up to like that. He had no father figure or mother figure. Cogsworth and Mrs. Potts were the closest to that, but they were just lowly servants that kept his house in order. How could she, a simple peasant, be allowed to have such a relationship? It wasn't fair!_

_But a part of him realized that he was wrong to believe such a thing. Lue had lost much in her life, it seemed, to a tragedy she wasn't willing to talk about to anyone yet, and most of the castle disliked her for how she behaved. She didn't conform to what a girl should do, let alone a female servant of a prince. Very few actually acknowledged her as more than a troublesome nuisance. She deserved to have someone to turn to in this place. He knew that._

_He could have her thrown out of the castle at any time for the way she treated him…_

_But then, he liked a little diversity around._

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_On that fateful Christmas when everyone's life changed, Lue could not quell the young prince's greed. She was used to his spoiled behavior being bad, but when gift-giving times came around, it was worse than ever, and even she knew better than to get in his way. The servants did their best to appease the master, but he dissed everything they gave him and demanded better presents. Lue, having nothing to offer that could hope to please him and slightly afraid of his greed-fueled anger, hid behind Lumiere, hoping this night would end soon as she clutched at the fabric of his pants. He rested his free hand, the one not holding his gift for the prince, on her head and smiled down at her, but even she could see this was taking its toll on him._

_When Damien practically degraded her father's gift of a book, Lue grew brave and angry. She, despite his intimidation and Lumiere trying to keep her back, ran forward, looking as though she might attack the prince in front of all the other servants. She came to a dead stop in front of the discarded book and knelt to pick it up, never breaking eye contact with the spoiled prince._

"_What's so wrong with this, Damien? Huh? What do you have against the gift of a book?" Lue asked, holding it out in his direction. "Is it because in your desire to trample over us that you've neglected your reading and thus wouldn't be able to enjoy it? My father worked hard to get this for you. The least you could do is treat it with respect."_

"_Why should I?! It's a stupid present touched by unworthy hands! And you shouldn't talk back to me when you didn't even—!"_

_He ducked quickly to avoid being hit by the very book he had tossed. It slammed loudly against the wall before clattering to the floor. Damien, along with all the other people in the room, stared wide-eyed at the vehement little girl in silence. She ignored their looks, keeping her focus on the prince._

"_You know what, Damien? I am done with you. I've tried and tried to change you, but nothing has come from it. You're still just a selfish little brat who doesn't care about anyone if they're not you. One day, you will pay for being this…this beast of a man, and I don't want to be around when it happens. So go ahead, kick me out of this castle. Maybe then I'll find a place I can actually call home and be happy in," Lue declared defiantly, but the anger in her voice could not fully mask the disappointment and hurt she felt about this._

_She also seemed tired; of what she was tired, it would be years before Damien would realize. In that moment, however, he only felt as he had always felt. Before he could say anything to Lue or she could leave of her own accord, a knock came at the front doors._

"_Who dares interrupt my Christmas?!" Damien shouted, getting up from his throne and going to answer the door himself._

_He sealed his and the others' fates then by disrespecting an enchantress in disguise, who then appeared within the castle in all her glory. Damien, upon seeing her beauty and power, groveled for the first time in his life, begging for forgiveness. Lue, hiding once more behind Lumiere, watched her spare him no mercy…_

_But then, no one was spared mercy._

"_You have been deceived by your own cold heart. A curse upon your house and all within it. Until you have found someone to love you as you are, you shall remain forever a beast."_

_Lue tried to run towards the Enchantress and protect those she cared about as the castle echoed with the screams of the prince with his transformation from man to beast. The Enchantress didn't even bat an eye as the girl came towards her, allowing her curse to do her work instead. Lue soon found herself frozen, unable to take even one more step, just under the spot where the blonde woman with glowing eyes floated in the air. Her body transformed right before her eyes, turning her from a little girl into a mirror fused into a stand with her eyes and face hidden at the top within the metal of the stand. Horrified by her own transformation, Lue turned to look at Damien…_

_And then she went flying across the room, knocked there by the blind rage of the beast. She barely managed to muster enough strength to look up in time to see the former prince run off in the direction of his room, roaring like the monster he had always been. The Enchantress remained floating for a moment, her enchanted rose still in hand, while looking after the reason for her curse. Lue struggled to pick herself up, unwinding the designs of her metal to push herself into the standing position once again, and faced the magic woman._

"_What did you do to us?! Why?!" Lue demanded, having seen how everyone had been changed._

"_It was necessary. Prince Damien has turned cruel with a heart colder than the deep of winter. You, of all the people here, must know that," the Enchantress said calmly._

"_I'm not arguing against his curse! I want to know why you changed the rest of us into nothing more than living objects!" Lue exclaimed._

"…_After the death of his parents, who coddled him as it was, most of the servants in this household spoiled him further, causing him to disregard anything lacking of status or beauty. Very few of you were willing to stand against his cold heart and even fewer tried hard enough to change him. Those that did were shunned. You are the reason he is what he is, and thus, until he can be loved for what he has become and can learn to love, you will all suffer this curse."_

"_He's just a child!" Mrs. Potts, now in the form of a teapot, protested. "Surely even you can see this is unjust punishment for one so young!"_

"_Even in youth, if the path is unaltered, he could become a heartless monster."_

"_Mrs. Potts, you're more concerned about his wellbeing than that of your own children? He's not the only one cursed. All your children, even Chip, are now doomed to a life of being nothing but tea cups," Lue pointed out, bitter with the old woman for being more concerned with her master than her own family. Turning her attention back to the Enchantress, she asked, "Why am I the thing Damien is going to despise most? Now that he has been rendered as ugly on the outside as he is on the inside, just one look at me and…"_

"_Lue, you have always been the one to challenge his authority, the only one that will not conform to his rule no matter how he attempted to abuse you into giving up. Before tonight, you never gave up on the chance that he may have kindness in his heart."_

"_But what does that have to do with—?"_

"_As his greatest challenger before, you as a mirror will become the greatest test to his humanity," Lumiere, as he came to stand beside his adoptive daughter in his new candelabra form. "Mademoiselle, I understand your reasoning for doing this, but I beg you, please don't place Lue in this position. Damien has hurt her before, and you saw what one hit from him in his new form did. I don't want to watch my daughter get hurt because the master isn't able to cope with the consequences for his cold heart. I might have been able to stop him before, but now there isn't even a small possibility."_

"…_If Prince Damien cannot keep from destroying the only person that fought him and was truly his friend, then he will never break my curse and prove to be more than a beast."_

"_But you're putting her life in danger!" Lumiere exclaimed._

"_It is beyond my power to reverse my curse now. Even if I wished to undo what I have done to your daughter, I could not. It is up to Prince Damien what becomes of your future. This rose that he rejected will serve as your time keeper. It shall bloom until his twenty-first year. If he has not learned to love and be loved in return by the time the last petal falls, the curse shall remain upon you all forever. I will make this clear to your master and then I shall depart. May this teach you all that sometimes loving someone does not mean you spoil."_

_The Enchantress disappeared, taking her light with her and leaving the bleak castle in darkness._


	3. Yours to Hold - Part 3

**Yours to Hold – Part 3**

_While the young master adjusted to his justice, Lue went into hiding within the castle to avoid being hurt under the urging of Lumiere and the other servants. Though she knew she wasn't as cursed as Damien who was forced to be physically ugly for his inner ugly, having to hide and hardly seeing anyone as they helped to improve Damien's mood allowed for the mirror to slump into her own depression. She didn't like being locked away in a room all alone. However, she also didn't want to get in Damien's way, either. She had seen what he had done to all the other mirrors in the house—lifeless reflective surfaces, but still the same as her now—and still had a crack in her surface from when he had struck her after his transformation. A scar in this life to mirror the one in her past, it just made her all the more afraid and depressed of living in this accursed castle._

_She pulled the curtains down in her room, and with a bit of help from Fifi, managed to turn them into a cover to conceal her reflective surface so she might be able to face the prince without so much fear or, on his part, despair for what it was. It was still weeks before she grew the courage to step out of her room with that maroon fabric keeping her object identity in shadow, and even then she stayed as far from the West Wing as she could. When she was out of her room when the master approached, she would quickly press herself against the wall and hold her breath to mask her presence, letting him stride by without the slightest idea that she was there._

_It was only when she took the time to think things through that she decided hiding from Damien was going to do nothing for anyone. The Enchantress intended for her to be his greatest obstacle to overcome, and how would he overcome his hatred for his outer appearance and reclaim his humanity if she didn't see him? Still, she was quite afraid to face him alone, so she asked for Lumiere and Fifi to accompany her, as they were the only two adults that came to see her in this time and she trusted them with her life. Of course in her heart she knew they wouldn't be able to stop the beast of her former friend from doing anything, but just having them at her side as she climbed the steps towards his room in the West Wing gave her a sense of security she otherwise wouldn't have._

_Stepping past the doors, Lue immediately heard a crunching and looked down to see she had stepped on the bones of some poor animal. Becoming a beastly creature, it seemed Damien had taken to hunting. She immediately offered to give Lumiere and Fifi a lift so they wouldn't have to walk through the remains of animals, willing to do so herself since she was much larger than they were in these new forms. Though Lumiere assured her that this had been done weeks ago and he was used to traveling through the bones, both he and his consort let her lift them with her unraveled metal._

"_I promise, Lue. He really hasn't been out hunting in the past couple of weeks. We just haven't made it up here to remove these yet," Lumiere told her as she cautiously maneuvered herself around the remains of life._

"_Cogsworth has been too busy directing us to clean up his messes in the dining room and kitchen," Fifi piped in. "And the master doesn't like for us to be in here without reason. Cleaning isn't good enough for him."_

"…_Do you think my being here is going to…be something he doesn't like?" Lue asked._

"_No, no. Get that idea out of your head, chérie. The master has asked about you for some time now. He was afraid you ran away after the curse was placed, but we told him you were still about without telling him where since we were still unsure if he was…uh…"_

"_Stable enough to see you," Fifi completed for Lumiere._

"_I…I know he was a mess…but how bad was it really?" Lue wanted to know._

"_Uh…Well…"_

"_He broke any mirror he found, leading us to hide away any that remained. He tore his portrait over there, and well…You see the state of his room," Fifi said, gesturing as she spoke to the broken, torn, and basically destroyed things in the master's quarters. "The only thing he hasn't dared touch is the table where the Enchantress placed the rose and the hand mirror she gifted him so he could observe the outside world without having to leave. He wouldn't dare destroy those things because it might turn this curse permanent."_

"…_So he's destroyed the things made to show his image…and the only thing he had of what he used to look like…and all of his belongings in his room…except for a table and the gifts from the Enchantress? And he's hunted like the animal he appears to be? What, did he just give up on himself right from the start? That doesn't sound like Damien," Lue commented._

"_No one is really who they used to be before the curse. We've all changed, and not just on the outside," Lumiere pointed out._

"_I know. I didn't expect it not to change people. And Damien…He's going to change more than the rest of us, for better or for worse," Lue mused. "Either he will become the cold-hearted beast or he will become the warm-hearted man. It's up to him what way he goes…and it's up to us, as the others caught in this curse that's now a burden on his shoulders, to help him go down the right path."_

_Moving towards his balcony, Lue spotted the table that the feather duster mentioned before. Sitting upon its untouched surface under a glass cylinder, glowing with the same light as the Enchantress had that fateful night, was the rose he had initially rejected when she was in the guise of an old woman. It hadn't bloomed yet, but it probably wouldn't do so until they were closer to his twenty-first year. Next to it, lying face down, was the green hand mirror that was his window to the world. If given the chance, it would probably be the only mirror in the castle that wouldn't be broken._

_Lue returned Lumiere and Fifi to the ground since there were no bones on the balcony where these things were, looking around for the person she had come to see. She caught sight of his tattered cloak moments before he slipped into the room from the outside of the balcony. The hulking figure that was a little boy not too long ago moved slowly towards her, not fully upright as his body didn't seem to know if it should be bipedal or on all fours. Lue felt her heart, wherever it was now, pounding with fear despite knowing that what he hated could not be seen. What would happen here? She didn't know and was almost too afraid to stick around to find out._

_But she hadn't backed out on him before and she was not about to do it now when he needed her most._

"…_Is that you, Lue?" the deeper, gruffer voice of the beast asked as he came to stand inches from her._

"_Of course it's me, Damien. Who else would I be?" Lue said as nonchalantly as she could, which was not very much._

"_I…I thought you would have left by now. You said you were done with me…before the Enchantress—"_

"_That was because I was fed up with you and your spoiled attitude," Lue interjected, sounding for a moment like the human girl she had been not even a year ago. "I thought…that if I left you then, it would be the worst thing you could imagine and that it might change you. Then that Enchantress came to prove me wrong about that. Oh, did she prove me wrong…And since she did, I can't leave. I won't leave. You need me to keep you from letting the curse take its hold on your heart so you don't become what you seem to be."_

_Looking into his blue eyes, the only human thing left of the prince, Lue could see how much that meant to him. He didn't have to say a word. She unraveled her metal and took his paws in them, knowing it wasn't the same as holding hands but it was as close as they could get in their current forms. She smiled at him, brighter than ever before, and that in turn made him smile. Seeing his razor-sharp teeth put her off a bit, but she shrugged it off as it was just another change._

"_If it's any consolation, Damien, at least the curse made you less ugly."_

"…_And it left you…just as evil as always."_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX

"After that, Lue did all that she could to keep my humanity intact while trying to erase what I used to be. It wasn't very difficult the first year. My memories remained for that time, and so, it was easier for her and the others to try to reform me. But as the curse progressed, the beast in me grew stronger and began to take away my memories and my humanity. Still, she fought to change me more than anyone else. While everyone else just tried to adjust to what I'd become, she tried to adjust me…Like you did, Belle. She knew that was the only way to break the curse, so she forced me to do civilized things. Without her, I would have forgotten to read and speak and I would have run about stark—uh, well, let's just say I would have been more beastly than I was when I met you and your father."

"…Why wasn't she here when we came? Why have I never met her? Why did you never talk about her before? You said she wasn't with us anymore and that your memories have just now returned…What happened to Lue?"

"…I happened to Lue…Six years ago today…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX

_Lue ran as well as any enchanted mirror could towards the front doors when she realized Beast was out hunting again. He hadn't shown in the past hour for their reading session and according to Cogsworth and Lumiere he hadn't eaten since dinner of the night before, so she knew immediately what he was doing. The signs had shown that now, halfway through the timeframe in which they could reverse the curse, his depression had increased and made him more willing to give into the animal instincts that came with his current form. She would try to scold him for it, but it only served to flare up his anger which he expressed violently. Lue had barely escaped being hit more times than she could count, and though his temper scared her just as much as everyone else in the castle, she would not let her fear keep her from him._

_She reached the doors just as they burst open, letting the cold and snow in. Beast, walking on all fours once more, crept into the castle with a lifeless deer clenched tightly in his mouth. The other servants hid themselves in fear from the hulking monster that was their master, but Lue, swallowing all her fear, came to stand in front of him, preventing him from ascending the stairs to the West Wing where he would tear apart that poor animal. He glowered and snarled at her, but Lue would not waver._

"_Damien, drop the deer. You know there's no need for you to hunt. There's plenty of food here without you having to unnecessarily bloody yourself," Lue chided, eyeing the blood dripping on the floor from where Beast's fangs dug into the throat of the doe. "Only animals hunt animals like that, and you are not an animal."_

"_You don't know what I am!" Beast exclaimed, dropping the deer on the floor._

"_I know what you were and I know what you could become. You just have to—"_

"_It's been five years, Lue! I'm still no closer to being a man than I was when this damned curse was placed on me! No one will ever love someone like me, so why should I try fighting it anymore?!" Beast roared._

"_Because once you give up, then the curse has already won," Lue stated._

"_Everyone else has given up on me breaking the curse! Why the hell haven't you?! It's pointless to fight it! No woman in her right mind would ever love me!"_

"_How would you know if you haven't tried? Given a bit more time—"_

"_Time changes nothing!"_

_Lue sighed. "…Fine. If you think that no woman could ever love you, given the time, and that fighting the curse is pointless, I suppose there's no point in trying anymore. Maybe I should go rid us of its time keeper, too, and make this all permanent. You want to give up? Fine. I'll go destroy the rose and save us all the—"_

"_YOU WON'T TOUCH IT!"_

_As he screamed at her, he swung his arms full force into her body, sending her flying across the room into the wall. She cried out in pain as the castle echoed with the sound of her glass breaking, snapping Beast back into reality in an instant. The curtain she used to cover her mirror was cut up by the shards and fell away, dropping the pieces of the mirror with it. Her metal was bent in a way it should be, and just looking at her face within the design revealed just how much pain she really was in._

_She slid down the wall until she laid flat on her back, vision blurry and breath haggard. Beast rushed over to her side, but was afraid to touch her after what he had just done. Her body was then enveloped in a bright light, and when the light faded, the mirror had returned to a human body, though it was still as broken as its counterpart. Like Beast, she had also been aging over the course of the curse and was no longer the little curly-haired girl that beat him up whenever he acted superior. Even though she was covered in blood and in a mustard yellow peasant dress similar to the one she wore as a child, Beast could not deny that she had grown into a beautiful young woman._

"…_How is this…What just…?" Beast couldn't even form a complete question._

"…_The only other way to escape the curse…other than you breaking it through your change of heart…is death, it seems," Lue stuttered as blood began to fall from the corner of her mouth. "…After all I've been through…I never thought this was how…I'd go out."_

"_You're dying?! No…No, no, no…This can't be happening!" Beast despaired, burying his face in his paws._

"_That…temper of yours is as explosive…as always. You really should get…a better handle on it before you…break the spell. No girl will find…violent anger attractive, you know…" Lue was obviously trying to lighten the mood, heavy as it was, by picking on her old friend and reminding him that he still could fight the curse. "…Well…most girls, anyway…"_

_Having heard the sound of breaking glass and the master's screams, Lumiere had come to see what the commotion was about. His smile instantly melted from his waxy face as he saw the contorted body of his daughter lying on the floor next to Beast who was next to tears. The candelabra rushed over to her, extinguishing the flames of the candles that were his hands, and lifted her curly head off the ground. She managed a small smile up at her father as tears appeared in both of their amber eyes, making Beast's heart ache even more than it already was._

"_Damien…Listen to me. I…I don't have much time left…but I don't want you to…to blame yourself for this. It was an accident…I want you to understand…that…and I…I don't want you to spend your life…as a monster…"_

"…_But I am a monster…I just…"_

"_You shut your mouth, Damien! I said you're not a monster, so you're not a monster!" Lue snapped bitterly. Doing so used most of the strength she had left, and the color quickly drained from her flesh. "…Though I won't be around to see it…I know…that you'll find someone…who loves you for what you are…You just…You just have to believe in yourself…like I have always believed in you…"_

"…_Why would you…?"_

"_Because…I was raised…to believe in those I care for…by my parents and…and my father. Not even this curse…could break me of that. You may have tried me time and again…but I'll always believe…in the power of change."_

"_How can I with you gone?"_

"…_You just have…to have some hope… that you will love…and be loved by someone…as much as I…"_

_The light faded from her eyes as she took her last breath. Realizing that she was gone from this world into the next, Beast could no longer keep his angst back and unleashed a heart-wrenching animalistic cry, letting the tears flow freely from his eyes at last. He ran off, unable to face her in death with the knowledge that he was responsible._

_His only true friend…was dead._

_And it was all his fault._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX

Adam watched Belle's face as he admitted to having his best friend's blood on his hands from the anger he hadn't been able to control. Horror flashed through her hazel eyes and any happiness she had before was long gone. The auburn-haired prince could only imagine what thoughts were running through her intricate mind, particularly if she was wondering if that could have happened to her when he caught her in the West Wing with his enchanted rose. He turned his eyes away, feeling wetness in them as he thought back on that time.

Belle knew the truth now. He felt lighter for having this secret off his chest, but he still feared his fiancée would change her behavior towards him. Lue would have told him that such a fear was ridiculous, that Belle had seen him at his worst and had stayed even then. She had grown to love him and nothing could scare her away now. But then, Adam mused, Belle hadn't seen him be responsible for the death of an innocent person. Yes, he had helped to end Forte when the composer, in his organ form, tried to kill everyone by destroying the castle, and Belle had been there, but it wasn't the same. Lue was nothing like Forte. She had tried to save him from himself only to be repaid by his temper shortening her life.

"…I buried her not too far from the castle…and dug her grave with my hands," Adam said quietly without meeting his fiancée's gaze anymore. "The servants made her headstone and…for the longest time…I didn't leave her side, choosing the freeze in the snow beside her grave… because if I couldn't even control myself around my friend…What worth in life did I have? If I could…just take the lives of those closest to me without hesitating…Why should I continue to live on? Death would break the curse for me, if only for a moment…So why try to break it the harder way?

"Lumiere was the one who convinced me to…leave her to rest in peace. Though he was torn up about her passing as much as I was…if not more so…He made me come back to my senses. I would have let myself die out there if not for him, and to this day, I trust him more than any of the other people in this castle. Besides you, anyway. Even when I despaired or became intolerable with my beastly temper, he was always there for me…just like she used to be. He never held her death against me, though I know how much it hurt him…It's something I'll never understand."

"…Well…She said she didn't want you to blame yourself for it. Maybe Lumiere took that to heart and placed his belief in you just as she did," Belle hesitantly suggested.

"Maybe," Adam reluctantly agreed. He raised his blue gaze to meet her hazel one as he took her hands in his again. "…Belle, I had to tell you this before we married because I wanted you to know the truth of what I was. Knowing how my anger can be over something so trivial from what I've told and what you've experienced yourself, you have…every right to leave me right now. You could get Maurice and go back to your village and never see me again. I wouldn't blame you. I just…I just had to—"

Belle shushed him and placed a finger against his lips before he could say another word. "Adam, you are not the same person you used to be. Yes, your anger was quite frightening when first we met, but you've changed. You're not a monster. You're a man, one that I'm sure Lue would be proud of. She forgave you for what you did. Lumiere has forgiven you as well. I'm not about to hold a mistake of your past against you, so you shouldn't let this burden hold you down."

"But Belle, I can't just forget what I did," Adam protested.

"I'm not saying you should forget. It's a part of what you used to be, and the death of anyone close to us is practically impossible to forget entirely," Belle pointed out, knowing from experience as her mother had passed in her lifetime and thus she knew that pain. "But you should let yourself move on from that time. Lue would not want you to hold onto that accident. She doesn't seem like the kind to wish such misery on anyone."

Adam sighed and looked at the ground, unsure what to say.

"I understand it will take time, now that the wound is fresh again. I'm glad you respected me enough to tell me of this, hard as it was for you," Belle told him. She freed one of her hands to grab his face and make him look her in the eye once more. "No matter what happens, Adam, I won't ever leave you. I believe in you. I love you."

Adam smiled as the tears began to fall. "Thank you…"

* * *

As he did every year on this day since her passing, the once-candelabra took the path to Lue's final resting place with a dim torch his only companion. It was slightly off castle grounds, which was why Belle had never seen it, but all the servants knew where it was. Over the years when he had come to her resting place on other days, he had seen others at her gravestone, though he had never approached them about it, so he doubted they knew he had seen them there. Mrs. Potts had come more than the others, full of regret for the way she had treated the curly-haired girl before the curse and wishing she had been able to relate to Lue better than she did. Fifi would occasionally come to dust off her gravestone and tell her stories, some of which were about how great Lumiere was and how she wished Lue could see him. Cogsworth would only stand there, staring at her gravestone and muttering about how someone so young and brave could be gone before a cowardly old man. They all admired her sacrifice; some thought that she would be the closest they ever came to breaking the spell. Lumiere, however, held his daughter's beliefs and knew someone would come to carry on her mission. While everyone else just moved on to make the best of their situation, he believed in the hope Lue had brought into the castle, keeping it alive long after she was gone.

He spotted her tombstone within a pile of snow, almost invisible in the dark of the night and the stark white of the frozen water. Lumiere stuck the torch into the snow beside it before moving to brush it clean. The cold stone and cold snow were uncomfortable on his bare hands, but it was the least he could do for her. He smiled when he could see her name again as well as the message he requested be engraved in the stone: the Light of the Castle, "You just have to have some hope that you will love and be loved by someone as much as I." What she stood for and her last words would be with her forever this way, and served to remind everyone to never give up.

"Our master succeeded, chérie. He finally found what you were leading him to after all these years. He's going to be married soon," Lumiere said. "A part of me wishes it was to you he was pledging his love. I always thought there was some sort of spark between you even when you were little. But well…We know that it just can't be…Belle's a wonderful young lady, though, I have no doubt that you and she would have been close if you had the chance to meet her. She carried on your mission without ever having known of you…Don't be jealous, chérie, as I know you would be if you were here. Without your light, Damien would have been lost to us long ago. I thank you whole-heartedly for that, my love."

From the folds of his jacket, Lumiere produced the enchanted mirror that had served as Adam's only way of seeing the outside world during the decade of beast-hood. After the spell had been broken, he had come across it in the halls leading to the West Wing. Belle had told him that Gaston had taken it from her when she was trying to save her father from being taken into the asylum, so the hunter must have dropped in while trying to kill the master. It had an x-shaped crack on its left side, much like his daughter had an x-shaped scar on her left cheek, which was the only reason he had held onto the hand mirror for as long as he had.

"…Show me Lue," he requested of it, wondering if it had any magic left after the falling of the curse.

The mirror pulsated with a green light as the surface shifted. From the light appeared the curly-haired amber-eyed girl, all grown up and happier than she usually was in life. She hadn't been meant for this era where girls were supposed to stay quiet, make babies, and take care of the household. Belle wasn't far off from being the same. However, Lue's uniqueness was something that, while driving others against her, made her stand out to Adam when he needed someone different. If it wasn't for her unique light, Lumiere never would have abandoned his aversion for children or called her his child. Watching his daughter spin around in her mustard yellow dress without a care in the world, he only wished it wasn't just magic, that she was really there in the flesh so he could embrace her one last time.

"I miss you so much, chérie. I doubt I'll ever stop missing you," Lumiere admitted, setting the hand mirror down on top of her tombstone as her image faded away. "But your light shines bright even now, and your memory will never be forgotten again. The master remembers you again and has told Belle. Let's hope they both take to heart what you wanted to come of such memories. I'd hate to see your sacrifice be in vain after all that's happened. I don't think anything will come of it, to be honest, but it doesn't hurt to hope for the best, right?"

Lumiere sighed, grabbing his torch from the snow and straightening himself. "…I should go now. Fifi will be worrying about me, even though I told her not to wait up. You know how she is when it comes to me. Until next year, mademoiselle. May your rest be ever more peaceful."

As he left, the mirror pulsated again, and the spectral image of Lue materialized beside her tomb. She watched her father leave with a tearful smile and wave before fading away forevermore.

_Goodbye, Father._

* * *

_A/N: This is the end of my first __**Beauty and the Beast **__story. In my own personal opinion, I think the curse would have kept the adults from aging, but any of the children afflicted, obviously including the prince, would have continued to age. That's why Lue did. But that's just me. Anyway, what did you think of this story? Please tell me without being rude about it. Thank you for reading, and have a wonderful day._

_I had planned to make Lue's death scene darker and more gruesome, but I couldn't do that. If it had been, I don't think even Belle could have overlooked such a thing. So if you didn't like it or think it was beastly enough, I'm sorry. I just hope you can appreciate the other things about this story._


End file.
